The working vocabulary of the average 14-year-old has declined in the last 50 years from 25,000 words to 10,000. Language reflects the depth of our human experience. Because we think in words, are we losing the capacity to say what we feel? Like, whatever.

kummerspeck

Posted onMarch 9, 2017byMaryJane

kummerspeck …

Well, okay, it’s not English, but that’s not our fault. Turns out, there is no equivalent English word for this German beauty.

What does it mean?

Well, what if I told you, in a dramatic and emotional voice, full of woe and misery, that my muffin-top was the result of kummerspeck? Or that my love-handles only arrived after a tragic misunderstanding of mashed potato proportions?

That’s right: kummerspeck translates quite literally into …

… grief bacon … ??

It’s when you overeat emotionally. Not just cuz you were jonesin’ for some extra fries or another slice of pizza (that, my friend, is regular overeating), but because you were so emotionally fraught with worry and/or anxiety, that that apple pie ala mode pretty much jumped right into your mouth.

What a great word that just rolls off the
tongue! So much more pleasant to the ears than “uncontrollable gluttony when stressed. ” “Kummerspeck” has definitely been added to my vocabulary. It explains what I’ve done this week while dealing with my 84-year-old Darling’s hospitalization with pneumonia. Thank you for sweetening my days!

I had to laugh out loud! The cat’s out of the bag, so to speak: when my husband was oversees for four months it was Trader Joe’s Mint Joe Joes cookies that I craved. They were hoarded and secretly stashed from Christmas for such an occasion. Well at least there’s a name for it now: Kummerspeck, of course.

All proceeds (minus shipping and packing) will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Here’s how:

MaryJane will post a photo of the prop and its cost here along with a few details as to its condition. The first person to call the farm and talk with Brian, 208-882-6819, becomes the new owner of a little bit of herstory. Shipping will be either USPS or UPS, our choice. No returns.